About this episode

The episode explores the problem of evil and various philosophical responses to it.

When the world looks cruel, every defense of God becomes a theory of human nature. Topics Discussed * The problem of evil argument and the two main ways to resist it: reject premise 1 or reject premise 2. * Leibniz's "best of all possible worlds" theodicy, including its psychological promise of consolation and its ethical demand for active striving. * Voltaire's mockery of Leibniz after the Lisbon earthquake, especially the charge that "the best of all possible worlds" sounds absurd in the face of real suffering. * Other responses to the problem of evil: deism, the devil, free will, evil as a counterpart to good, the soul-making defense, and skepticism about whether we can prove that unnecessary suffering exists. * The connection between theology and moral psychology in Hobbes, Leibniz, and Spinoza: whether people need religion, political authority, or freedom from superstition in order to live well.

People in this episode

Host: R. C. M. García

Topics covered

• problem of evil
• theodicy
• moral psychology
• human nature
• free will
• suffering

Keywords

• evil
• theology
• Leibniz
• Voltaire
• suffering
• theodicy
• moral psychology

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